Katie Couric to Sarah Palin: Let's talk again
By Hal Boedeker, Orlando Sentinel
2:08 p.m. EST, May 22, 2012
Katie Couric will debut a daytime talk show, "Katie," in September. (Getty Images / May 22, 2012)
When Katie Couric starts her daytime show in the fall, she would love to interview Sarah Palin.
"She has an open invitation to come talk to me," Couric said during a stop Monday in Orlando. "I'm not sure she'd be interested, but she'd certainly be welcome. She's a fascinating figure not only on the political scene but in popular culture."
Make no mistake, though: Couric stands behind her revealing Palin interview in 2008. Couric earned some of her best reviews, but Palin fans were furious.
"I have no regrets about that interview," Couric said. "I don't need a do-over. I'm very proud I was doing my job, and when someone is running for the second highest office in the land, I think it's important to ask pointed, challenging questions, as I do for all candidates."
Couric previewed "Katie," her syndicated daytime show, which debuts Sept. 10. It will air live, at 2 p.m. weekdays, on NBC affiliate WESH-Channel 2.
Couric will be reunited with executive producer Jeff Zu! cker . They were a successful team at NBC's "Today." But she had a rocky run as anchor of the "CBS Evening News," logging fine interviews but failing to lift the telecast from No. 3. He had an even more tumultuous time as an NBC and NBC Universal executive.
"Nobody knows me better professionally than Jeff, and he knows me well personally, too," Couric said. "I feel like I'm in good hands with him."
But she discounts the idea that they have something to prove with "Katie." "I think we both feel happy and proud about all we've accomplished in our careers," she said. "I think we want to do well, but not because of any other reason that we want to do well."
"Katie" will allow a return to the person she was on"Today,"Couric said. The CBS job "didn't allow me to be as extemporaneous and natural and interactive as I was and I enjoy being."
She has been working for ABC News, and she will anchor "The Jubilee Queen" about Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at 9 p.m. May 29. "It's a look at the unique reign of this monarch and all she's been through through the eyes of people who know her best," Couric said.
She interviewed Prince William and found him "warm, engaging, incredibly gracious." Princes Harry and Andrew will be in the show as well.
Couric described "Katie" as a work in progress that will have test tapings in August. She stressed that the show will not pay for interviews.
She said she has never attempted to interview Casey Anthony but sounded intrigued by the possibility. "I think it would be very interesting to ask some of the questions that were not asked during the trial," Couric said, adding there could be no preconditions.
Couric's dad, a print journalist, encouraged her t! o go int o the business, and at some point she would like to write a book about her career. "I promised my dad that if I ever did, I would write it all myself," she said. "If you're a journalist, you should be able to write your own book. So at some point I would, because I have had so many fascinating experiences."
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